Anyone looking for Bradford’s beating heart should take a walk up Great Horton Road.

Between Chester Street and Shearbridge Road the place is alive, with rows of busy shops and restaurants, thousands of students and the ever-expanding University of Bradford campus on the right, while on the left, from Claremont up to Ashgrove, you can find a hub of social and spiritual consciousness.

During part of the day, Anglican priest the Reverend Chris Howson may be found in Desmond Tutu House or the Tree House cafe – reputedly the oldest Fairtrade cafe in Britain. His first book, A Just Church, has just been published.

It deals with a range of subjects, from urban regeneration to the treatment of refugees in immigration centres, and he argues for faith communities to radically engage with social justice.

As the city centre mission priest, Chris Howson led a recent campaign resulting in the removal of an imitation crossbow from a window display in city centre store Barkers, only 500 metres from the former home of self-styled ‘Crossbow Cannibal’ Stephen Griffiths.

And last week Chris joined the protest against plans for a bingo hall in one of the city centre’s busiest shopping streets, claiming Bradford needs local businesses selling local produce.

On Sundays at noon, Chris, who did a three-year apprenticeship with the Reverend Gordon Dey in Holme Wood, can be found in Soulspace in the Delius Arts and Cultural Centre, Bradford’s German Church which is also an arts and performance centre.

Like the social and political causes he embraces, his services are more about helping people to feel empowered and spiritually-connected than preaching to the converted.

He said: “I think the Church as a whole needs to be broad. We do a lot of silence. There is no sermon. People who come, mainly young people, reflect on a story from the Bible they have heard and tell it. We don’t read from the Bible.

“These are all forms of worship that have been informed by the liberation theology tradition from South Africa and South America. It’s about the church being relevant to its context. So in the book, you’ll find stories about regeneration in Bradford.

“It’s very much a ‘how to’ book – who holds power, what are the effective ways of bringing about change? It’s full of vivid stories about how Bradford people are amazing. It’s a celebration of their resilience.

“Our perception of the people who rule us in Bradford is very poor. This has come about by pursuing a consultation process that just feels fake instead of doing what people actually want – a ‘top down’ process.”

Born in Lancashire in 1969 and raised by his mother on an estate in Middlesex, between the ages of 11 and 18 Chris met some very creative Anglican priests working on the estate.

He became a Christian at the age of 18.

“Working out what that means takes a lifetime. Some people spend their life trying to replicate that moment – the point is to get on and love and serve,” he added.

During the five years of his ministry as a City Centre Mission priest, he has sought to make a difference in the wider community.

In December 2007 he set up Street Angels, the Bradford-based 200-strong volunteer group offering a caring presence in the city centre on busy Friday and Saturday nights.

When Morrisons announced the future closure of its Westgate supermarket, he started a petition and with the help of the Telegraph & Argus, persuaded Morrisons to change its corporate mind. He was photographed holding a placard stating, ‘Remember your roots, Ken’.

Although he opposes the proposed demolition of the Odeon, with the exception of the facade he is not in favour of preserving the building.

He said: “I would like to see a health centre and a sports complex built on the site. I just think there needs to be something that helps make the population more healthy and more at ease with itself.”